CORVIDÆ.
these, and other churches and college^ had discovered^ that
the wooden labels placed near the plants, whose'names-they
bore; in the botanic garden wouldserve well enough -„-for thbi'r
nests instead of twigs from trees, and that they’possessed-the
greater convenience of being prepared ready for usë;’and placed
very near home: A large proportion of »the labels useddd this
garden were made out of deal, laths, were about ninenrichés
long and ohé inch brôad; • To these the Jackdaws would
help themselves freely whenever- they could do so without
molestationy and the extent of the garden made this’a matter
of no great difficulty: -Those who-are aware howeolosely
some species of the grasses-, umbelliferous,.plants, && resemble
each other, and who, ^consequently, know how necessary
it is to prefix labels To them indicating- their?-names,, will
reàdily pereeiye : how much inconvenience .arose .from the
Jackdaws’ appropriation of the. labels $ and th is , especially
when they removed them, as they sometimes did;-from-sown
seeds, as the plants arising from these seeds must,: in some
' species,- grow for a.: year or more before-their namsMeoultLbë
ascertained. I cannotgive a probable idea of the,number, of
labels whièh the. Jaekdaws~annually removed,; ^u t-fro im th i
shaft of one - Chimney in Free: School-Lane; which-wasfclo&e
beside the botanic garden,' no less-than eighteen "dozen^of
these labels were taken out ahd brought to Mr. Arthur-Biggs;
the curator of the botanic garden, who receivedjarid• counted
them. Of the mass of materials sometimes collected for the
nest by this species, I have mvidence in a lettër from Charles
Anderson, Esq. ofrLea, near Gainsborough, Lincolnshire,
who says, that a Jackdaw began its- nest on a step of a stoffe
staircase in Saunby Church, near Lea. The^ staircase, is
spiral, and the steps narrow and steep. Finding it could .not
get a firm base so that the nest should be flat and fit; ta sit
on, the birds brought sticks till they pileddt up- five or six
steps, after which came a landing, and then they finished
JACKDAW. 105
t.hdr worb^, slotifelp^ The clergymapr.'of .the place bore tes-
timonyAo th^^uaJatity.i^)f, sticks-,, brought- together, the labour
ofAqltpDtmg-yj$cbtmng.t haf jjite'fextraordinary.
><«The -foul ' these,' are. gene-r
r^'^ ^ ^ ^ l^ ^ f&M ay ^p ^ isjth el^ o Jin ^ a re rJh a teh ed by the
orsygry cai>l^n|JuneXft^^e-|qg^.are of a
pale- bjuish^fwhi®jsptttedlwith>a^^cj^r andfcl<pe -brown;
b ^ ^ ^ lin c h and half a line
in3 breadthp^Tli^fy^png^b^|%y ,whi<||n ^f^fisually^fitife, take
fr^vthbi^tbyytliei^n^oG Juuefdre easily^
them. Thty^ftni.
leam-fo Jmitaftej dhc As$&n<l%, of - tlie^human v^i^e, and exhibit
9&0ri^n‘]Mug dghajltifef-j./' Sou|,^rem6fefeableit iiis^pje%<iare
't#&feed, in t%v]\Jsugavine4,©J^kiiural History,* and. in wonlm
n p e h - Q r n i t l i o j a c k d a w ls-m^'e^shrill
than that Mrfh^^gejEs^ri^Sy andy like^tfehem, it dsbymo
nlean-, partiWianas to the quality ignite -f^A-jeatliigludiscrij
mii-iatrcly^LnseH'S; “sheds, £or|graim^t;ggs-»^br carrion; on the
^tt^hHE^shell-fi^h^or the reM%i©s;j©fdotherand cruSri
- baek<x>f i s|ieepilto gather
w,p@J ,^ ^ it§ |# # t, iout any parasitica® tit may
find inisuch a ^situation: ^.eea^ioually .the Jackdaw visits
gard'Gns3t |i l 4f|^oni''some ^ vthe'KSoffter>^^p^ble&,and fruits ;
bu,t in '^ i|k iem en t'. appears to,^prefer aueat. When fence;
paired,»Mr. Waterto.n iiCensiders^that ■ t th^sremaim > partners
forrlif@ulj
The Jaekda^ is r-fomnddn vmqst parts oftthis mountry; but
Mr. Macgill'ivrayf who hashp^digreat attention to the Ornl«f
thology of Scotland,. saysdt,is no$Jdifod,in the outer Hebrides'.
Mr. 'Low;jincW$<iAt< as.aTbkd -of 'the Orkneys ; b u t'/it' is
on the information*^ iP.ther«s;sk^he- does not appear to balpj
seen the birds himself. I t is not mentioned by. Mr. Dunn
as eccjurring. in Shetland:-; It is- found, however, still farther
north, in Denmark and in Scandinavia, in Russia, and in
* Vol. vi. p. 516, and voI.Jkbk p. 151.